The month of January has been grueling for both Shereen and myself. The number of hours I’m working has increased; it is typical for me to leave the house before 7 am and return at 10 pm. Whereas last year I was working many unnecessary hours due to poor time management, this year the workload has expanded to match the time at the office. This has put additional strain on Shereen since she can no longer teach and we only have a short time to spend together each day. Fortunately she was able to travel to Paris and London with a friend visiting from Michigan last week, which reduced the loneliness for several days. (She was in Paris during the union demonstrations, expect a firsthand account soon).
Last week I was approached about extending our stay another 6 months or longer. But I said no to this offer. One way or another we will move back to the US in July or August. It is not fair to Shereen to remain in France.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Don't Buy the Hype
You may have noticed from these posts that our time in France has not been all sunshine and roses. In fact, we struggle to understand why anyone would choose to live in France after living in the US. While in France, one lives in dread of anything going wrong. The process of correcting something that requires hiring an individual or going through a company is obscenely complicated. And the time that it takes for the issue to be resolved is exorbitant. But our experiences pale in comparison to the Minnesota couple who have run the gamut of frustrations.
The Minnesotans are renting a nice size house in Olivet, a suburb of Orleans. A few weeks ago the furnace stopped working, which was doubly unfortunate since the same unit heated their water. The temperature is still dipping below freezing at night and staying in the 40’s during the day, so a working furnace is critical. Unfortunately it has been two weeks since the furnace broke and it is still not functioning. They have had to push and scream to even get a repairman to look at the furnace. Then it was several days until the part would be delivered. Then the part was sent to the wrong city. The owners of the house finally stopped by offering a partial solution: fire wood for the fireplace. I suppose this is how the French are used to dealing with things, just put up with them and wait; even if this means regressing to the 1800’s and boiling water over an open fire for bathing. For the first few days while this was going on they were showering at our apartment, but to put pressure on someone to get it fixed they moved into a hotel room booked to the company.
One more example of why not to look to Europe for how to run a society.
The Minnesotans are renting a nice size house in Olivet, a suburb of Orleans. A few weeks ago the furnace stopped working, which was doubly unfortunate since the same unit heated their water. The temperature is still dipping below freezing at night and staying in the 40’s during the day, so a working furnace is critical. Unfortunately it has been two weeks since the furnace broke and it is still not functioning. They have had to push and scream to even get a repairman to look at the furnace. Then it was several days until the part would be delivered. Then the part was sent to the wrong city. The owners of the house finally stopped by offering a partial solution: fire wood for the fireplace. I suppose this is how the French are used to dealing with things, just put up with them and wait; even if this means regressing to the 1800’s and boiling water over an open fire for bathing. For the first few days while this was going on they were showering at our apartment, but to put pressure on someone to get it fixed they moved into a hotel room booked to the company.
One more example of why not to look to Europe for how to run a society.
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